Intravenous (IV) devices are widely used to administer fluids to patients. In an IV dispensing system, a catheter is commonly caped into central veins (such as the vena cana) from peripheral vein sites to provide access to a patient's vascular system. The catheter could be connected to an injection site, such as a needleless cannula access device, which includes a split septum accessible by one end of a blunt tip plastic cannula. The other end of the blunt cannula could be connected to a fluid source, such as a conventional syringe or a fluid line in communication with a IV bag filled with fluid.
When the connectors are attached to each other, fluid from the fluid source can flow into the patient. These connectors are often separated from each other at various times, for example, when a patient needs to use the bathroom. When the connectors are disengaged from each other, the connectors are exposed and are prone to contamination. Current procedures to reduce contamination of the connectors involve swabbing the connectors with a disinfecting pad. These procedures are prone to human error and are often not implemented. Also, antiseptic caps such as Excelsior's SWABCAP antiseptic cap are used to clean and cover access points. However, when a cannula access device is disengaged from a blunt cannula, there is no standard manner in which to store the cannula access device, and protect it, until it is reattached to the blunt cannula.